Brochures are traditionally used as promotional marketing material and are still very effective.

A brochure can be used as a promotional booklet, to introduce your business or as a product lookbook. Whatever your intention, the design and layout are going to be what makes your brochure stand out.

It might not be enough to have a lovely front page image to get people to pick it up and keep reading.

Intention or Purpose of Brochure?

First, you need to decide the purpose of your brochure, is it a product lookbook? or a promotional booklet introducing your team and what you do?

Who is my audience?

What is the purpose of my brochure? Is it to drive sales or advertise an event?

How will the design of my brochure reflect my brand?

Some Layout and Design Ideas

Add a novelty item

You could add a pair of cheap 3d glasses to reveal a few hidden images or information. Talk to a graphic designer about creating an image that will work with 3d glasses.
If your business was spectacles, you could perhaps attach a small magnifying glass to magnify some tiny font to emphasise the purpose of your product.

Have a fancy fold

Have you ever tried origami? This ideas has been used many times and creates a fun interactive brochure.
- Pick a shape that would work with business, ie ‘the crane’ if your business happens to have something to do with cranes. and get a skilled graphic designer to create a spread that reveals a new page or piece of information under each fold.
A booklet that folds right out to reveal an overall image or message is a fun idea.

A Flipbook

Flipbooks are fun and interactive, you could get one made that has a short message or an animated version of your logo.

Have a unique Shape

Does a promo booklet need to be a standard 16 page a5 layout? No, it definitely does not! You can get quite creative here, there are many different options

Cut the corner off, this could be effective and incorporated into your overall design quite nicely
Create a small business sized booklet, this will look unique and intriguing.

Add some tabs

Tabs added to a brochure are an easy way to create a unique looking brochure or promotional booklet. They are also effective for easy navigation.

Binding

Binding is usually done with either a fold or a couple of staples, which work well in most cases but the binding of your booklet can make a big difference. If your business was selling shoes, for example, you could use string or shoestring to bind your booklet. You could also use ribbon or lace if you are in the bridal industry, the ideas are endless really.

The overall design of your brochure or lookbook can make a huge difference with the engagement of your potential customers or supporters. Making sure you have or hire a really good graphic designer is going to make a huge difference.